6 months

So I went to the doctor on Thursday...it has been six months. Six months since my miraculous healing. Six months since I started a study at the University of Utah. The T.E.A.R trial. The Treatment of Early Agressive Rhuematoid Arthritis. I was so crippled before. More than anyone knew. Anyone but Cali, or Cortney but even they couldn't understand. I couldn't hold my children...I couldn't dress them. I couldn't be who I wanted and it seemed so overwhelming to picture my life the way it was. I could barely drive. I slept deeply maybe 3 or 4 hours a night. Every time I have a doctors appointment which is every six weeks, I dread it. I don't like the drive up and back thats two hours, I don't like going alone, and I usually have to get a babysitter for 5 hours (thanks Cali), oh plus I have tons of blood drawn. But as I get there I always get an overwhelming sense of gratituted. I am always almost giddy. I don't know quite how to explain it but I go from dreading it to being so happy. I am doing so well...they take a blood test at every appointment to check the activity of the disease the rate at which my immune system is destroying my joints. It is always almost no activity. How amazing is that. Six months I have felt awesome. Now I get start tapering off the steroids that are making my face chubby and in two months I will be off of them comepletly. I love my doctor and my study coordinator. I am so thankful every day (every hour) to my Heavenly father for allowing this miracle to come in to our lives. I know Cortney feels that way to. I told Oliver that I was going to the Doctor on Thursday...the doctor that helps me with my hands. He couldn't remember my hands hurting. I couldn't believe that. I thought it was going to be a huge thing he had to deal with in his life (taking care of me and picking up the slack on things I couldn't do before) but maybe it won't be that way at all. I am so greatful for medicine. Well I just wanted to write down mostly for my self how I felt at my 6 month appointment. I am so blessed.

Fishin'

So on Thursday I heard Cortney talking to one of his friends on the phone and he said..."well you will be able to see it on our blog" I thought it was really funny. I didn't even know Cortney knew "our" blog exisisted. Well I guess he does and he has some things he wants me to write about and he wants me to post this picture. He was able to go fishing on Thursday...He has a place down at the golf course that only they have access to. He caught so many fish...2 24" carp, an 18 inch walleye, croppie (sp), tons of white bass...maybe 4 or 5, 2 large mouth bass, and an huge catfish (below). So that is what he caught word for word out of his mouth. When he starts telling me these things I usually tune him right out but he was thrilled. Here is a picture he took with his phone...look at his face...I've never seen him happier...well maybe once when he was caller #9 on X96. This catfish he says was 28 or 30 inches long "OVER" 15 lbs. He and his friends grilled it up for lunch the next day at work. He is so funny...and hasn't caught much down there before this. He kept telling me it wasn't the right time of year, but I was starting to think that he just wasn't much of a fisherman. I guess he proved me wrong.

my come lo todo

Come lo todo means glutton is spanish...translated word for word it says he who eats everything. That is my little or should I say big R.o.b. Every morning I make that little boy a hot breakfast yesterday it was two scrambled egg omlet with toast. Today he had a huge bowl of old fashioned oatmeal (adult serving size, I couldn't eat that much) a bannana, and a bowl of lucky charms. I hadn't planned on giving him the lucky charms but after he finished his food I got myself some lucky charms. He wouldn't even let me eat them he would yell at me every time I took a bite and kept looking frantically at how much cereal was left in the bowl. Some times he amazes me.
Here he is watching the tube, he likes to watch Teletubbies when he wakes up from a nap grumpy. It usually cheers him right up. (note he is getting his hair, I guess that is how he soothes himself.)
I love when my kids sit nicely by eachother...it hardly ever happens so I thought I HAD to get a camera out and document it.
Just the side view and ofcourse it isn't in focus. Cortney's camera is too fancy for me.
The weather here is starting to get nice and our grass is starting to come in. This is a picture of ROB running in our front yard. He cries all day by the door to go out to play.
Oliver jumping down our front steps. I CANNOT wait for summer. oh...and for our back yard to be done.

TWINS!

So they are here!!! Sammy had her babies delivered by c-section yesterday (sunday)at 7:53 & 7:56 am. I don't know the exact details and I will post them as I get them.

I do know the girl KATE (named after kyles mother) was born first and is 4 pounds something. She was actually 4 lbs 7 oz. 18 inches long.

Owen came second at 5 lbs something. Okay my mom just called me Owen weighed 5 lbs 9 oz 18 1/2 inches long. His full name is Owen Kyle Miller he is O.K Miller just like my grandpa Owen Ken Earl was O.K. Earl
Sorry the pictures are so small they are from Kyles cell phone. Better than nothing. I am so happy for them.
Both babies are healthy and it sounded as if Owen will get to go home when Kyle and Sam do, it might take Kate a couple more days after that. Amazing to have such healthy twins.

like mother like sons....

So we are all border line sick over here. Noses running and a bunch of grumpy boys. Cort included. Cortney had to work today because they let the water in the sprinkler system at the course in too fast and busted 12 sprinkler heads. Cortney had told them not to do it and that it was something that should be done over the course of a couple of days, little by little. But did they listen, no. So he had to go down and try to fix exactly what he had told them would happen. I in the meanwhile was sitting around not feeling too good, and feeling sad that he was working. I decided I would make myself a YUMMY sandwich. I love to cook for myself. I know that sounds weird but I love food and I love to make something just so. I piled on the sprouts, and tomato a little cracked sea salt, and freshly ground pepper. The bread was a delish sunflower honey bread and of course I had the most delish mustard assortment to choose in the making of said sandwich. When it was finally made I took my blanket and curled up in our recliner that is right in the sun so it was cozy and warm. As I sat down my children must have smelt my heavenly sandwich because there they were at my side. Both of them were begging for bites. I didn't think they would like it but I was wrong. It makes me so happy to see two little boys scarfing down a sprout sandwich. Oliver kept calling it a grass sandwich. I love that they will try most foods and they think almost everything is yummy. I know that someday they will insist that they only like a peanut butter sandwich with the crust cut off so I am writing this down as proof that at one point in their lives they would try things...and they would like them.

Busy Day

So today was a crazy day. Not like my usual days. I slept in this morning...long trips are hard on me I come home sooo tired. I finally woke up and started reading a book. I was only going to read until Rob woke up and then I was going to start my day. A couple of hours later I heard Rob stiring around in his room. He woke up at NOON....and I only had a couple of pages left in my book. It was a nice start to the day. We then all got dressed, fed and ready. We jumped in the car and I called Evans Hairstyling College to see if they had any appointments for my two boys. It was awesome they said they could get me in at 1:30 (it was 1:21 when I called). We went straight over there and my two boys got their hair cut. Either Cali or I have been cutting their hair since they were born. They always cry and freak out and it isn't worth it. This place was awesome. I didn't tell them untill we were there and I had two girls cut their hair right next to each other. It was so great. Oliver was doing a little silent crying at first (the lady was using someone elses clippers and they were pulling his hair). She switched clippers and he was fine after that. The whole thing was over in 15 minutes. I then took the boys to pick out a dessert at Kneaders. YUMMY. The best food around. I love that place. We had a fruit tart, a key lime pie tart, and a german chocalate brownie. We went and ate them in the park. It was fun. I never go anywhere without my sister and I see why. It was lonely sitting there at the park by myself. I actually went down the slide with Robert. It was such a nice day! We went home because Robbie was trying to get some kids toys and wouldn't leave him alone. Once home I put Robbie down and Ollie and I continued to play...
I tried to take a picture of Robbie's new hair before his nap. He wouldn't hold still...he just wanted to see his picture on the back of the camera. His hair cut is REAL cute though.
Here is Olivers hair cut. He posed himself on the ball. Funny what a kid learns when his parents take a million pictures. He thinks he is so handsome. All day he kept saying "thanks mom for letting me get my haircut, I am going to do whatever you say on this day"
As we were playing and taking pictures outside the sprinklers went on....he was not amused.
It was so funny seeing him try to get off the yard and getting sprayed in the head. I know that makes me sound mean...but it really was funny.
When did I get old enough to have a kid that can jump over the fence? When did my little baby get old enough to jump over the fence? The worst part of it is that my little Rob trys to copy him and he can get about halfway up the fence...his little feet are the perfect size to go in the chain links.

After getting home I called Amber and Laura and had a little mommy time while I talked to two of my Bestest Friends. After that I had a class presidency meeting for young womens at 5:00....we had stuff to prepare for tomorrows mutual. At 5:30 I ran to the church to help set up tables and stuff for the RS birthday dinner at 6:00. Now it is 9:30...I barely got my kids in bed and the house really needs a once over. But I am TOO tired. It is tiring having stuff to do all day. I love my unschedualed life. It really is the best. Cortney is over at my brother and sister's house putting a water line from their sink to their fridge. Who knows when he will be home...but I bet he would appreciate it if the house was clean...I know I would. I better get working. GOODNIGHT

Home again, home again jiggity jig

So we are home...it took 12 and a half hours. Real good time. I knew it was going to be a long day because all of the kids were crying that they didn't want to leave as we were loading the car. We left at 5:30 or so. The kids were crazy. Still good considering but worse then on the way to Washington. They knew there was nothing to look forward to. Oh well it was ALOT of good memories and I know it is making us better people.
Cali and I in our matching outfits. I know this isn't a great picture of us but after 13 hours with 6 kids in a small space how good are we supposed to look...right?
All the kids in their glory. I gave my kids a bath after the long day and the bath water was dark brown. They were covered from head to toe in treats.
It was really fun wearing matching outfits. We already got tons of people looking at us in disbelief for just having 6 kids but it was even more unbelievable being two ladies...matching outfits...6 kids. Yeah...I loved it.

Here we go again...

So in the morning we leave home to Utah...at 5:00 in the morning. We are all packed up and ready to go. So sad. I love it here...I love everything about it. Tonight I was outside and the smell reminded me of my childhood so much. I loved growing up here. Moses Lake is a funny town, it took me coming back to realize it. But...it was a great place to grow up. Sometimes I want to move back so my kids can have the same opportunity I did. Cali and I got matching sweat suits for our road trip back. YEAH. I will post some pictures after I get home. It is going to be awesome.

Robert Owen Boice

So last night Rob got his hands on a couple of marbles. I didn't want him to have them but he was SOOOO tired and sad I let him keep them. As we got ready to start eating dinner my dad sat him up on the couch and gave him a bite of pear. He was kinda laying down when he was eating the pear. I looked over and his face was getting red and his eyes were watering. I picked him up whacked him on the back and swept his mouth with my finger to clear his passage way. Some pear came out but I screamed "he is not breathing!" My mother, father and sister were all right there and I handed him to Cali, and pleaded with her to help him. My father cleared his mouth once again while Cali continued to hit him on the back. I ran to the laundry room and said a prayer...I didn't want to see him die. I ran back out to the kitchen and asked if I needed to get an ambulance coming. They continued to try and get him breathing but at this point my poor little baby was turning bright blue. I have never seen anyone like that before. Cali gave him the Heimlich maneuver while my dad kept trying to hit him on the back. Out came a marble and then another...and then another...three marbles. Immediately his color returned and he coughed in air. He looked SOOO relieved. He didn't even cry for a while he was just so happy to be breathing again. I ran to him and of course I lost it. He lost it. We rocked with each other for a couple of minutes. I have never seen real chocking. I have seen chocking were the person is gasping or coughing but never where there is nothing from them. We all just kept waiting for him to gasp...or cry...or anything. It was the scariest thing ever. After he was fine we all just sat there in silence. We offered up a family prayer of gratitude and we just sat there...horrified...greatful and speechless which is really saying something in the Earl family. WOW. Having lost a brother at a really young age...I understand death. I know that it happens and that it is Heavenly Father's plan. I know that when my brother died it was because he was done here on Earth and that he is in Heaven and that we will see him again. I have always had a strong testimony of that. I just didn't want him to die in my arms. Even if it was my sister's arms I knew she would do everything she had to do to try and save him. I couldn't do it. So today...as I listened to his sweet little voice waking up over the monitor...saying so quietly and politely mom...mom...Ollie...Mom? I was so grateful for him and the time I have been able to spend with him so far. Grateful that I will be able to see him grow. He is a good boy.

13 Hours

So we did it...my sister Cali and I drove from Orem, UT to Moses Lake Washington with six kids, in one van. I kept having panic attacks all weekend just thinking about how awful the drive would be...but in true Earl fashion, our kids our great travelers. We had no problems. We woke up at 4:00 and were on the freeway before 5:00 a.m. All of the kids had their blankets and treats. We had tons of movies to watch and even hooked up our Xbox so the kids could play Lego Star Wars on the way here. We stopped in Baker Oregon for a 30 minute lunch/play session at a McDonalds playland which was a life saver because our kids loved it and ran around like they had never seen a play land before. Really the only stressfull thing was Rob only slept 27 minutes in the entire 13 hour drive. Towards the end he finally lost it and cried for about 20 minutes. He really was so good especially for only 27 minutes of sleep. We were so happy when we pulled on to Easy Street and so happy to be home sweet home. I love it here. I found some pictures that I thought I would post...
This first picture is my huge family at Disneyland. This was one the happiest days of my life. I loved it. Sam and Kyle were also on this trip...just not this day. Notice how great I look...I delivered Rob 4 weeks from this picture.

Me...Cali...Sam. My two sisters...my best friends. Here we are young and oh so cute. I had never seen this picture before. Can you believe I used to be blonde. Oh those were the days...I think blonds do have more fun...or so it appears. I love this picture. I had the best childhood. I hope my children can be so lucky.

Happy Sumo=Happy Ashley

We went to Happy Sumo for my birthday which is my favorite restaurant tasty japaneese food and sushi. It was so much fun. Cortney and I went alone and we sat at a table with no light above it it was the darkest table at a restaurant I have ever sat at. I couldn't even tell what I was eating.

This morning we were driving and Oliver said to me out of nowhere "Daddy always eats the food that Tyler gives me and I don't want him to." I couldn't understand what he was talking about mostly because he has an imaginary friend named Tyler and also a beloved uncle Tyler. I asked him which Tyler and he said "the real one....Tyler gave me some food and put it on the counter and daddy ate it" It is amazing what little kids are thinking sometimes. Maybe not amazing to you all but I thought it was so cute. He was being so pensive in the back seat thinking about life and Tyler and the food his dad ate.